This year, the peninsula's small schools appear poised for more of the same.

The Ninilchik girls took their third straight state crown last season. Senior Whitney Leman has been a big part of all three, making first-team all-state as a freshman, then earning Class 2A Player of the Year honors as a sophomore and junior.

The Wolverines lost three starters from a year ago, but coach Dan Leman expects them to be in the hunt for a fourth straight state title.

"We beat a lot of teams last year by 30, 40, 50 points," Leman said. "We lost a good part of that when we lost three seniors.

"We're still a good team this year. I've been telling them, 'We don't need to win every game by 30, 40, 50 points to be successful. Five points still counts as a win. That's the kind of team we have."

The Cook Inlet boys lost just one starter off their team, but it was Class 2A Player of the Year Justin Franchino.

Just as big of a loss may have been Tim Keener, who won his second state title and Class 2A Coach of the Year honors before leaving the Eagles after last season.

CIA graduate Max Vavilov, who played under Keener and was an assistant last year, takes over at CIA.

"(Keener) is like a bank of basketball knowledge," Vavilov said. "I'm just trying to keep up.

"I think one of his major skills is adjusting to things on the court when things aren't working. That's one of the things I'm trying to figure out how to do. It comes with experience."

The Nikiski girls lost four of their starters from their championship team, but return senior Karen Rabung, a second-team all-state player last season. Foreign exchange student Hisa Miyari also has filled a gap at point guard in Nikiski.

However, Nikiski coach Ward Romans said he would give Seward the favorite's tag. The Seahawks won the District 3/3A tournament last year, and have a deep and talented lineup this year.

As for the Class 3A boys, Nikiski made it to state last year, but lost all five starters from that team.

Both Nikiski coach Reid Kornstad and Seward coach Rob Hassen are excited about the potential of their teams, but both coaches tout Anchorage Christian Schools as the favorite in the district.

Outlook: The Bulldogs won a region title and took sixth in the state last year, but lost all five starters from that squad.

Kornstad said certain players, like David Holloway, can't be replaced, but also said that all hope is not lost.

"This group of guys has played more in the off-season than any other group I've coached since I've been at Nikiski," Kornstad said. "They played spring league, fall league and have consistently showed up to open gym since August."

All this playing together has given the group a basketball acumen that Kornstad is finding extremely easy to coach.

"They actually, top to bottom, can be more offensive than last year's team," Kornstad said. "Nobody is as explosive as David individually, but as a team we're very explosive."

Of course, Kornstad said the team also must learn to match its offensive intensity with defensive intensity.

Outlook: The Eagles took third in the district last year. With one starter lost off that team, Bell is hoping for a move up to at least second place, which would mean a berth at state.

"It's the same old thing," Bell said. "We've had such a hard time with Ninilchik and Seldovia. I know (my players) can do it. They've just got to get over that mental hump."

If CIA is going to get over that mental hump, this would be the year to do it.

"All the girls have played together quite a bit," Bell said. "The seniors have spent all four years playing together."

The Eagles have the potential to fill it up from the outside. Bell said developing an inside game would make the team even more dangerous.

"Miranda (Zindel) has worked really hard and improved drastically on her toughness in the middle," Bell said. "Jessica Hall also is really coming along underneath. She's not a real big girl, but she's powerful."

Outlook: The Eagles lost just one starter from last year's state championship team, but it was Justin Franchino, the Class 2A Player of the Year.

However, CIA went 3-0 at the Cook Inlet Classic and appears prepared for another solid year.

"With this team this year, there are so many weapons we have, no one person has to carry the load," Vavilov said. "We can really spread things out. People will have to focus on different players at different times."

Of course, a wealth of talent can be a double-edged sword.

"The biggest concern is how we're going to gel as a team," Vavilov said. "It's important that we work on team chemistry first.

"I think when we find that, and we're finally united in our goal for this year, and everybody accepts their role, we're going to be hard to stop."

Outlook: After last year's district championship and runner-up showing in state, the Wolverines must find a way to replace four key and graduated players.

"We lost an awful lot, and we can't replace some of the players we lost," Ninilchik coach Chris Hanson said. "But then again, we've got a pretty hard-working team.

"Our work ethic is certainly better. If our kids continue to be willing to work, we'll have a good season."

The Wolverines will look to deploy the intense defense that worked for them last season. The big change will be on offense, where Ninilchik can no longer rely on the immense scoring abilities of Buck Kvasnikoff.

"Our players, early last season, depended on Buck and we started out rough because of that," Hanson said. "Already at this point in the season, that aspect is much stronger. We're more balanced.

Outlook: The Sea Otters had a middle-of-the-road season last year, but with just two seniors lost to graduation, Gruber said the team is poised for a better finish this year.

"All the kids that are back are fairly experienced," Gruber said. "We had a couple of years of playing together and I think we're a little stronger than last year physically."

The Sea Otters had better be fairly strong physically, because they have a tough schedule. Seldovia will play at the Heritage Christian Tournament, which will have three Class 3A schools. Seldovia also will face off against Homer's varsity and Nikiski's varsity.

"We play one of the tougher schedules we've had in years," Gruber said.